Fix You
by ForeverMurpheh
Summary: Kate Beckett is a master of controlling her feelings, but it might be all too much for her when she and Castle are sent undercover on a romantic couple's holiday. Catching the killer aside, will she be able to deal with the real problem at hand..?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_So, this is the first story I've had the guts to publish here! I'd love any kind of feedback. :D I'm going to do my absolute best to keep it well updated, but I can't promise anything on how often that will be. . Basically, just enjoy! Title is from the lovely Coldplay song, 'Fix You'. ~Murph_

* * *

><p>"No. No way in <em>HELL<em>."

Kate Beckett's face was the very picture of mortified, eyebrows risen so they almost disappeared beneath her wave of hair, hazel eyes widened to make two giant circles. In comparison Richard Castle, sitting in the chair next to her, had a wide grin of amusement spreading over his characteristic face.

"It's a big ass company Beckett, they don't want cops interrogating their customers. If you want to find this killer, the best way to do it is to pretend you're one of the visitors." Esposito couldn't help a sly grin. "Besides, we all know that the pair of you act like a married couple anyway."

"A whole week? Pretending to be married to _HIM_, on a honeymoon?" Beckett shook her head fiercely. "Send someone else. Or let me do my job properly. I'm not an actress, I'm a cop."

"I don't know, you've proved to me many a time you're capable of acting to get what you want." Castle's eyes flashed, and he lowered his voice slightly. "I shall never forget that Russian accent."

Ryan and Esposito's badly-disguised snorts only increased the tension on her face, and she grit her teeth. "Sir, there has to be another way to-"

"There isn't." Captain Montgomery smiled, the picture of innocence. "It's only one week Beckett. Besides, you both could do with a break."

"A _BREAK_? What do you expect us to be doing?" The Detective's mouth opened slightly in disbelief. "You don't mean you're intending us to actually have a holiday?"

"It will make it a lot easier to find the killer behind all this if you blend in. So yes, that means relaxing, taking part in the activities, and enjoying the island."

Beckett just shook her head, unable to believe her ears.

Castle was virtually beaming. "I can't wait to see you drive a quad-bike."

* * *

><p>"Fifty bucks they're a couple by the end of this." It was fortunate Beckett was several rooms away, because Ryan's stage-whisper was anything but subtle.<p>

"That's a sucker's bet, bro." Esposito rolled his eyes. "Even Beckett's going to break after a few days of that." He shook the leaflet, eyebrows raised.

"If she overhears that, you might be the one being broken." Lanie appeared behind them, coming to confirm news for herself. "It's really going ahead then?"

"She didn't get much of a choice." Ryan admitted, somewhat grudgingly. "But she'd have said yes anyway."

"I'm sure." Lanie raised her eyebrows, looking somewhat out of place in her clean white clothes and plastic gloves. "This is undercover work to the extreme. Even for them."

"At least they booked a two bedroom." The glint in Ryan's eyes was rather deadly. "Just imagine.."

Esposito had a sly grin creeping onto his face, and lowered his voice. "Come on, it's _Valentines_ day next week. I don't think the Captain's influence was entirely in the name of justice."

"And what makes you think that?"

The group almost jumped out their skins as Captain Montgomery appeared without warning at Ryan's shoulder, face fixed in a stern frown.

"I, eh, just.." Esposito's mouth worked open and shut a few times then he gave up. Ryan and Lanie exchanged a quick glance, mouths set to muffle the laughter.

"My decision was entirely in the name of justice." The Captain swept his powerful gaze around them, before treating them to a slight smile. "If it's not justice to give that woman a break, I don't know what is."

In unison everyone span round to stare across the precinct, over to the bullpen where Beckett was lost in thought, perched on the desk with her eyes set on the almost blank board.

Lanie nodded appreciately. "That girl needs some time in a spa. With writer boy or not."

"It's more like an ultimate training camp than a spa." Ryan's brows joined as he swept his eyes briefly down the leaflet. "Can anyone else see Beckett going for this? She'll probably spend the whole time in her room trying to puzzle out the case than...well, doing water sports or riding horses."

"Which is why we packed Castle along with her." Esposito shot his partner a 'keep up, will you?' look.

"I can see Castle being plenty happy to stay in an apartment with her." Lanie put in, smirking slightly.

"They won't find out a thing by staying inside, and Beckett knows that. They need to get to know the other visitors, as much as they can get without directly canvassing them." The Captain glanced quickly over to check the Detective hadn't overheard the rest of her team plotting against her. "Trust me, she won't have a choice."

"Won't have a choice in what?"

This time even the Captain jumped. Castle glanced back and forth, one eyebrow raised, before his expression sank into that of extreme suspicion. "What's this cosy little gathering about?"

A small silence fell as the others debated about explaining to him, but it turned out there was no need. There was a tapping of heels from the bullpen, and a few moments later Beckett appeared behind Lanie, face like thunder.

"I think she read the board properly." Ryan mumbled.

"The flight's _tomorrow morning_?" Her voice resembled how Castle imagined would be the vocal equivilent to icicles.

"We didn't mention that?" Esposito's voice was a bite on the too innocent side, and suddenly everyone was very interested in random objects around the precinct.

Beckett schooled her features into something less livid. "Lanie. My apartment. Now."

"Major girl clothes packing due." Lanie gave the group a cheerful wave before being dragged into the elevator by Beckett, the doors shutting before she even had a chance to point out she was still in her work clothes.

"She never actually had a choice, did she?" Even Castle was incredulous, turning to the Captain. "You couldn't have got tickets that fast otherwise."

Montgomery gave him a casual shrug. "Don't sound so surprised. We just let her think she does."

"Now get packing Castle. And don't forget those luxury boxers.." Ryan did a fake swoon, reducing he and Esposito to badly concealed hysterics.

Castle shot him a long look before heading for the elevator too, attempting to sweep his jacket off with a whirl and almost bringing the entire hanger on top of him.

"We'll get it!" Ryan was having far too much fun. "Save your precious time for choosing what deodrants you're going to use on Beckett.."

The doors thunked shut, and Castle finally let his grumpy expression spring into one of excitement. He couldn't help but wonder at how much thought Beckett seemed to be planning to put into choosing what she was bringing..

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I'm going along with this."<p>

Kate stalked around the main room of her apartment like a wet cat, heels clipping the floor as loud as she could make them.

Curled up on her sofa, head resting in her her hand, Lanie grinned at her. "I think you're more worried about spending a week living with Castle. What to wear, what to say, how to do your hair.."

She was treated with a withering look in response, but then Kate fell back on the sofa with a sigh of defeat. "Don't you start too."

Lanie's smirk turned to sympathy. "Look girl, you _do _need a break. You work all day every day, and it's not an easy job. Even cops take holidays."

Her friend shut her eyes, flipping a wave of her hair away from where it was crowding her face. "I'm not getting the feeling that this one's going to be the relaxing spa holiday you're cracking it up to be."

"Or maybe you're just trying to make sure it won't be?" Lanie narrowed her eyes. "Come on. I guarentee this will appeal more once we plan your wardrobe." Jumping to her feet, she dragged Kate to her feet and almost skipped through into her bedroom, flinging open the doors to her closet.

"Lanie, this is a murder investigation-" Kate started to argue, then gave up, perching on the corner of her bed chewing her bottom lip. Clearly she wasn't going to get any choice at all in how this one went.

"Aaand, you're going to on a romantic honeymoon break. You have to look the PART, girl." Her friend had a devilish smile on her face as she took an armful of hangers, flinging them over her shoulder and rifling for more. "So we need the sexy, clingy dinner dress, _THE _underwear, some shorts.."

Kate scrunched up her face in disdain, but there was a grin hovering on the corners of her mouth. It was a while since the two friends had been sitting here with nothing on their minds other than clothes planning. It was enough to make her happy to play along..for now.

"You seriously...really? This is still here?" Lanie held up a vibrant pink dress, one eyebrow raised high up her forehead. "I thought we agreed this one was for the shredder."

She couldn't hold back a sheepish smile this time. "Oh. I kept meaning to, I just forgot."

"I think I'll take it back with me just to be sure." Her friend shot her a somewhat worried look. "I wouldn't want to risk Castle seeing you in that."

Ignoring the jibe, Kate winced at a painful memory. "Yeah...that pink wasn't really my colour."

"This on the other hand? That's for the evening on the balcony.." Lanie threw in a summery dress on top of the pile, unhooking another armful of things and tossing them on the floor. Kate gave up on the nonchalance, settled onto her knees and dug in after.

* * *

><p>Within an hour, the entire contents of Kate's wardrobe had been sorted into a messy assortment of piles strewn over the floor. It practically looked like the apartment had been bombed again.<p>

"I can't see all that fitting in a suitcase." She pointed out, casting a doubtful look over pile her friend had assigned 'going'.

Lanie snorted. "Me? I take about three suitcases on holiday. I think you'll manage." She sat back to admire her handywork, nodding appreciatively. "He's going to worship me."

"Who?" Kate stiffened. "Lanie. I'm not dressing up for Castle. My cover is someone on their honeymoon, I'm just...fitting the part."

"Uhuh." Lanie's eyes glinted at her. "I'll say no more." Getting to her feet she danced to the door, the offensive pink dress tucked under one arm. "I'll be there to wave you and Writer boy off tomorrow."

Kate opened her mouth to protest, but her friend had already left. With a heavy sigh, she threw the assortment of unwanted clothes back in the wardrobe, and the rest into two bags, before settling against her bed frame, one hand running through her hair. She was never going to hear the end of this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

****_I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the response this got ; I thought I'd be getting no real interest until about five chapters in at best. x'D Thank you so much to everyone who bookmarked or submitted a review! I'm doing my best to keep the chapters coming as fast as I can. Hope you're enjoying it so far! :) _

_I can't wait to write the next chapter, because that's when the real humour/fluff begins, but it may take a little longer to make sure I'm happy with it. _

* * *

><p>"I'm so, so sorry." The girl couldn't have been much older than Alexis, and she looked absolutely terrified. This wasn't how you wanted your first shift on the job to go. "The girl doing the phone calls, she mucked up, I mean eh, she, she mixed up some appointments, and the two bedroom was gone, and .. "<p>

Castle cut in smoothly with one of his most charming smiles. "We're on a honeymoon. The single bedroom is fine."

The girl wavered a little more, then a relieved look spread over her face. "I...right! So this...this is your apartment, and your luggage has been brought up. There's a timetable of activities on the wall, you can just go down to reception at the times listed and take part in any you want. And...I've already told you about all the facilities...so...so enjoy!"

"Thank you." Castle graced her with a second smile, and she skittered out the room with a small squeak, overcome with relief. She seemed to have been expecting a lion's den reception.

"Well."

There was an awkward pause as both of them took in the room. Huge windows were built across one wall, but otherwise it seemed to be be built for the purpose of low lighting. Soft spotlights were dotted over the ceiling illuminating a massive four poster bed, which seemed to dominate the whole apartment.

"Well, then." Castle thumped onto the mattress, then his face lit up as it shifted beneath him, springing him back up. "It's one of those...those.." He waved his hands like a six year old being told they're going to Disneyland. "Those squishy mattresses! I've always wanted to try one of these!"

Beckett threw a pile of bags onto the bed, rolling her eyes. "That's too bad, because you're on the floor."

Castle's mouth hung open in mock pain. "You know the first secret of acting is to believe you are who you're pretending you are?" He frowned. "Come on. I'll stay right on the other side of the bed."

"Good thing I'm not here to act then. There's your bed."

Castle almost fell over backwards under the weight of the blanket thrown at him. He cast her a dark look before laying it on the floor, sitting with his knees hunched up and eyes narrowed. As usual though, it didn't take him long to snap out of it.

"What...are...those?" Suddenly appearing next to where Beckett was unpacking, he snatched a set of lacy black underwear from the bottom of the suitcase. She grabbed it back in a split-second, not meeting his eyes. "Nothing."

"Katherine Beckett, you never fail to surprise me." He winked at her, earning a cold glare.

While she finished unpacking, neatly stacking her clothes next to his disarrayed pile in the cupboard provided, he started reading the activities list. "So, what shall be our plans? Quad-biking, of course. Swimming? Scuba diving? _Horse riding_." He glanced up to meet her eyes with a devilish grin. "Definitely horse riding."

As hard as she tried to disguise it, Beckett couldn't help a slight pause as she swallowed. "I don't like horses."

"You will after this." Not paying attention, Castle marked down the times. Beckett chewed her lip. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>The patter of the shower came on, and Kate rested her head in her hands, once reassured he wasn't going to reappear. She had been dreading this part all day. The sun had fallen beneath the night's cloak, and the apartment was lit only by the dim lights strung over the bed. She sat in a T-shirt and shorts, drifting her eyes over the elegant frame of the double bed. They couldn't have made this much more awkward if they tried. She kept telling herself it was just another job, just another cover, but she couldn't help that fear, that he wasn't going see it that way. Somewhere along the line, the wall between the cover and reality was going to get blurred.<p>

A vague humming drifted over the noise of water, and she couldn't help a slight smile. Of course, he sang in the shower.

Settling onto the top of the bed, she lay down flat on her stomach, shutting her eyes and burrowing her face in the pillow. She was greeted with a smell that she both loved and repelled. Something like parchment, books, and a sharper edge of deodorant. Castle. He had been lying here earlier. After double-checking he wasn't behind her, she inhaled it a little further. It was a lot more pleasant that she would have cared to admit, in fact she wouldn't have minded smelling it every day. That let her guard down enough for a brief image to flash across her mind, of waking every morning in the safe warmth of Castle's strong arms, all she could smell being that lovely mixture of books and paper, without the deodorant masking it...

It was not in fact Kate who snapped herself out the daydream, but Castle himself. "Are you...asleep?" His voice was confused, and she couldn't blame him ; she must look a sight, spread full out on her front right across the bed, head buried in a pillow.

"I was just sm-" She almost slapped a hand over her mouth. Had she seriously just said that? "I was resting." Flipping herself over into a more appropriate position, she started desperately trying to think of ways to rescue herself out the hole she'd just dug. A hot blush had spread like lightening across her cheeks, and she kept her eyes safely fixed on the duvet, not daring to look up. Not that she needed to, of course - she knew Castle well enough to have his exact expression as clear in her head as if he'd been right in front of her. His eyebrows would be quirked up in amusement, mouth open in an arrogant grin, eyes sparkling with glee.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that Detective. Did you say you were smelling the pillow?"

"What?" She put as much feigned disgust into her voice as she could, sitting up straight and glaring at him. "I was just catching some rest. I'm _tired_."

"It's Lynx, by the way." Ignoring her response, he shot her one of the most delighted smirks she'd ever seen on him, and waltzed over to his case on the floor.

"It's better without the deodorant."

No. That had not just come out of her mouth. She hadn't just gone there.

Clearly she had, because if it was possible for his smirk to get wider, it just had. "Why Beckett, how honest you're being tonight! I'll keep that in mind."

Her mouth fell open as he left back towards the bathroom, though it wasn't at his cheek but at her idiocy. How on earth had she let that slip out? Or was she just imagining things, and he had learnt to read her mind instead? She hadn't thought it was possible to make this evening even more awkward, but she just had.

* * *

><p>Castle finished in the bathroom all too soon, and emerged to find her seated in a rather more dignified position this time, huddled under the duvet. Then he glanced at the floor, finding a blanket and pillow laid out, and he glanced back up at her in disbelief. "Are you seriously going to make me sleep here?"<p>

Beckett pulled the covers a little higher, subtly trying to cover every bit of bare flesh that she could, so she didn't get across quite as savage a look as she intended. "Yes. Or would you rather we fought for who gets the bed?"

Castle's face said it all. "If you're offering."

"Let's not lie to ourselves Castle, we know who'd win."

With a muffled grunt, the latter thumped onto the floor and wrapped the blanket around himself, not bothering to deny it.

There was a short pause, before Kate sat up straight and stared at him. "Do you not change before going to bed?"

"I thought you might not be able to contain yourself, as I only brought pants."

She couldn't help a slight snort, mouth twitching. "No fear."

Merely raising his eyebrows, Castle abruptly yanked open his shirt and threw it messily onto the floor. He didn't tend to feel self-conscious about his body, the very opposite in fact, but it was with a slight anxiety that he glanced back up at his muse. She recoiled faster than he could blink once she saw him looking back at her, snatching her eyes away and flipping over in the bed. A wide smirk slipped onto his face. "What was that about 'no fear', Detective?"

Beckett didn't trust herself to reply - she'd had more than enough slip ups this evening - and kept her mouth pressed shut.

"If you'd rather, we can swap pillows. Or did you keep mine?" She heard him lap up the scent of his pillow cover, attempting to identify his own smell. "Hm, I think you did. If you want to be able to absorb my smell, as long as it won't over power you, it'll be easier if I lie next to you and-"

"Castle."

"Mm?"

"Shut up."

Unknown to her shadow, Kate turned over, burrowed her head in her pillow cover, and was soothed to sleep by the warm aroma of books.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_Okay, I just realized there are a few things I should have mentioned earlier to make this clearer, so I'll quickly mention one of them before I let you read this chapter. xD There is the obvious problem that the Captain is still alive. I love the guy, I couldn't bare to not have him in on this. Especially with all those lines in my head from the first chapter. So basically we're setting this just before he's killed. I'd much prefer to have it after the shooting and all, especially with Rick's big moment, but I don't see how I can have both. . If I decide to twist the plot and somehow slip that in by massacring Castle's plot line...I'll let you know. At the moment I'm just seeing where this all takes me._

_This chapter was insanely fun to write. It's criminal (no pun intended) how entertaining it is to torture Beckett._

_I've decided that I'm going to structure this story by having three chapters with Beckett as the main focus, three with Castle, three with Beckett, and so forth. So don't worry, I'll be giving you your fill of Castle thoughts in the next installment. 8D_

* * *

><p>When she'd decided not to set an alarm the night before, Beckett hadn't taken into account the fact that it takes a lot more than the usual nudging to wake Richard Castle up from a good sleep.<p>

She had woken at the first brushes of light from the window, dragging her from the welcoming arms of slumber and reminding her that there was a case to deal with and a killer on the loose. The team had briefed her on the case of course, although there wasn't a lot to tell. There were two victims, which would have been enough to excite Castle on its own if it weren't for the odd circumstances. A young girl in her mid twenties, most likely killed between 1 and 4am, was found with a broken neck at the bottom of the main block of apartments. Then a man, also in his twenties, a whole three blocks of apartments away strangled and left lying on his bed as if tucked up to sleep.

Presumably they had considered just going about it the usual way of canvassing and some smart thinking, but by the time Beckett had been filled in on it everyone seemed to have their mind up that it called for a little more secrecy than usual. It was this that put her on edge. An undercover mission generally meant a cold and ruthless killer was behind it, and here they were sleeping in an apartment right in the middle of the danger zone, utterly helpless. Not that this had crossed Castle's mind judging by the peace on his face now, and the contented snores occasionally slipping out of his mouth.

She had tried shoving his shoulder, tugging on his arm, rolling his onto his back and even partially lifting him up then dropping him back on the floor. He was dead to the world. However, Beckett didn't have time to sit around watching him slip back into consciousness, and it was already 9 in the morning. After his behavior the night before, she wasn't exactly reluctant to get her own back either.

Carefully reaching into her shelf of clothes and pocessions, she laboriously selected one of her highest, most dangerous looking high heels. Then before she could let herself think of kinder options, she thunked the less sharp part over Castle's head.

"AAGGGGH."

She'd never seen him move so fast. In a blur of messed up hair and widening blue eyes he sat up straight, grabbing the first thing that came to hand - a Lynx deodorant bottle, Beckett realized with a stifled groan - and brandishing it ready to knock out whoever had caused his rude awakening. It took him the majority of thirty seconds to discover he wasn't under attack, and his chosen weapon wasn't going to help him much.

"Castle. It's 9am. Get up."

"You..." He rubbed his head, wincing, and gave her a horrified look when he saw the shoe still clutched in her hand. "Did you just...try to knock me out with your high heel?"

"You didn't need knocking out Castle, you were well past that." Climbing to her feet before he could attempt some kind of revenge, Beckett slotted the shoe neatly back with its partner and scooped a pile of clothes into her arms. "You better be up by the time I'm out this shower." She shut the door as he tried to come up with a clever retort, leaving him with a ringing headache and no desire to get off the floor, let alone go on a murder investigation.

Beckett had to admit that she was impressed when she exited the shower, hair in a messy pile of dripping strands, dumped her pajamas in her case and smelt the delicious signs of pancakes. Not many people would let themselves be assaulted with a high heel then be ready to make breakfast for the culprit.

Padding into the kitchen, she let herself actually admire the apartment for the first time, rather than find more reasons to hate it. It was like something straight out a magazine, open and airy, with every part of it polished and gleaming to perfection. There were no magazines stacked on the counter, no dirty dishes, no stains from split food. Even the glass on the cabinets was obviously brand new, reflecting the sunlight drifting in through the huge window back across the smooth wooden table tops. She almost wished she could take it home with her.

Castle stood in a shirt and jeans, expertly flipping the pan so the batter sailed through the air in a perfect arc. On a plate was stacked a mouth watering pile of finished pieces, and it was all she could do to stop herself darting out and shoving the lot down. The man had some magic way of making her hungrier whenever he was with her. He also had some kind of magic in making a messy bedhead style look utterly adorable, but she shoved that one quickly to the back of her mind.

"Those look amazing." She admitted, announcing her presence and taking a seat on one of the stools sitting by the counter.

Castle glanced over at her with a slight cower, as if expecting for her to hurl another shoe at him any moment. "I don't recall saying you were getting any."

There was a short pause, then she shot out a hand and grabbed one off the plate, stuffing it into her mouth before he could react. It was just as good as it had looked, and she sighed in appreciation. She'd needed that.

"Hits me with a shoe then expects a cooked breakfast." Castle muttered, helping himself to one and then giving her a grin that said that although she wasn't forgiven, she would be once he carried out the plan forming in his head.

Holding back a groan of despair, Beckett started coating a second portion in butter. "We need to get started. We've got next to nothing on the vics, so we need to ask around without attracting any attention.."

"..Which means it's time to start on the activities." Her partner finished for her, his grin twisting even wider.

"...Which means we can try and get closer to the other couples." Her correction fell on deaf ears. He was already stuffing his half of the pancakes into his mouth, cheeks bulging with food, and pushing through to the bathroom to get ready. She hated to think what plans were running through his creative mind right now, twisting and growing to make innocent ideas into evil plots designed for the pure entertainment of tormenting her. What on earth did he mean by activities, anyway? Surely he could only have dreamt up sports, horse riding being the worst. There was no way he had twisted this to involve more than that...

Who was she kidding. He was Richard Castle. Of course he had.

* * *

><p>"All right, just follow me and we'll get you all set up with your horses. We'll be taking a beach trek today, lovely and romantic..."<p>

Beckett disliked their instructor already. Short, rather on the large side and with thick ringlets of red hair and ruddy cheeks, Donna certainly looked a little formidable just from a glance, but she also seemed to be hooked on the idea that teasing the couples in front of the rest was how to gain popularity points. She had already picked Castle out from amongst the others, declaring that she wouldn't mind sharing a ride with him if his wife didn't look like she'd tear her head off for it. Which Castle had absolutely loved of course, but had taken grinding her teeth to a new extreme. The fact she was about to go horse riding for the first time in over ten years was bad enough without being deliberately picked out and embarrassed during it.

The yard was typical of the resort, clean and fresh, made of pretty white stone and surrounded by grey archways that led off to huge luxury stables. Lined up along one wall were an assortment of horses. At least she wouldn't be stuck on a mischievous pony, Beckett thought briefly, attempting to have a positive outlook.

"I didn't realize they'd be so big." Castle's face betrayed a small hint of anxiety. This clearly wasn't quite what he'd had in mind.

Beckett bit back her thought about the pony as soon as they got up close. The horses were absolutely huge; leggy, shining beasts with large dark eyes and well brushed manes. What she'd always hated the most about them was how she could never tell what they were thinking. She was trained to figure out what was going on in well guarded thoughts, but it was one thing when it was some criminal that she was breaking down in an interrogation - another thing altogether when it was a large powerful animal that looked like it wanted to take a swing at her if she kept eye contact.

She hadn't always hated horses. In fact, she'd been all up for it when aged seventeen a friend had invited her round to go horse riding with her. It had started off fine. Her friend had helped into the saddle, taught her how to hold the reins, and they'd started off down the path, warmed by the afternoon sun and in good spirits. In fact, it had been quite enjoyable until they had crossed through a forest and on the edge of the trees had ran into loud dog and its owner. Her horse had bucked crazily at the barking, tossing her over its shoulder and skittering around her as she struggled to sit up. Her friend was turning back to help her, but that wasn't before the horse turned to her, looked straight in her eye and quite deliberately swung out its hooves at her face. It was a miracle she hadn't been injured, but its fear had made its aim far off. However.. that didn't stop her refusing to ever go near a horse again.

"You two...well, that looks like all the others are taken. You're on Vader."

Quite apart from the horse's name, something in the woman's tone put Beckett immediately on edge. If that wasn't enough, the stable hand gave Donna a nervous glance, not daring to speak up against the boss but evidently predicting that wouldn't go well.

"She's trying to make us ride a Sith lord." Castle murmured, making her jump. She hadn't realized he'd been standing so close to her ; his breath tickled her ear. "I don't like this."

A slight smile crossed Beckett's lips, then vanished with a sudden jolt. _Us? You two? _She surely wasn't suggesting...

"Right, you on first then him behind."

No, she definitely was. This was far, far worse than all the nightmares she'd been dreaming up about this lesson.

"We don't...we don't get our own horses?" Her voice sounded almost as horrified as she felt.

Donna grabbed her shoulders with two weathered little hands and steered her with surprising force towards a massive, formidable ink black stallion tethered a little away from the other horses. "Come on darling, I know you can't wait to get up there with _him_." She winked, and Beckett restrained herself from applying some of her combat training on the woman. "Besides, Vader likes a strong man's hand on his reins."

There was something rather ominous in what she'd just said, but she wasn't able to think over it before she was being almost literally shoved up a block of steps and onto the horse's back. Immediately a chill ran down her. The stallion was absolutely enormous - everyone else looked like they were riding Shetland ponies in comparison. His long black ears flattened as she settled onto the saddle, legs dangling awkwardly down his bulging shoulder muscles, her hands hesitating at his neck. She couldn't even remember the last time she felt this vulnerable, with nothing holding her on and the possibility of being chucked off at any moment.

"Come on pretty boy, we don't have all day." Castle thumped into the saddle behind her with even less grace than she had, the wall between them immediately forming. No matter how much she squirmed to the front though, she could still feel his leg resting gently behind hers, the light press of his chest behind her.

Donna stood back a step to admire her handiwork, then shook her head in disgust. "I can tell you two are more shy than you look. Come on, now." Before either of the pair registered what she was doing, she had given Castle a rather violent punch in the back. He was immediately kicked forward in the saddle, thumping into Beckett's back. She only just managed to hold back a gasp as suddenly she was pressed right against him, every line of his chest against her back, his knees tucked under hers, arms flying forward so they trapped her there against him. She could almost feel his heart thundering, though doubted it could be going as fast as hers. Her body seemed to be fighting a battle - half of her yelled to break away, insist on another method, throw away the mission, because she couldn't do this. The other half however begged her to fall back into his embrace, to tuck herself inside his arms and never move again..

This was insane. Absolutely insane.

"Right, now we're all together.." Donna treated them both to an eye roll almost worthy of Beckett's. "Let's move." She mounted her own horse, a safe looking stocky bay, and started abruptly trotting down a small dusty path leading away from the yard. The horses were obviously trained to just follow the one in front, as there was a wave of surprised reactions from riders as their mounts suddenly starting legging it after the instructor. Vader stood still until the others were almost all out of sight, making munching noises. Beckett risked a quick glance around behind her, where Castle had pushed himself back the tiniest bit, and found her partner with a look of utter terror on his face as he watched the horse's mouth, almost as if he was looking for a pair of fangs. At least he wasn't applying the same amount of concentration to her. She couldn't take much more of this.

Out of nowhere came a loud slap, as the timid stable hand hit Vader hard on his rump. Then suddenly the world was spinning past her and before she knew it she had let out a slight shriek. Vader flung himself into something so fast that it had to be a gallop, making everything move beneath her. The sheer power of the animal was suddenly very clear as she felt his shoulders working beneath her legs, a machine made for running. If it wasn't for Castle's arms pinning her to his chest and holding onto the reins for dear life, she'd be on the ground somewhere by now.

"Beckett? Don't fall off this horse. I'm not facing up to that instructor if she sees me attempting to resuscitate you."

Her shriek turned into slightly hysterical laughter at her partner, doing his best to calm her down. "I don't think resusciation would work on broken bones, Castle."

The forest flew by in a wild blur of browns and greens, and all she could hear was the thundering clips of Vader's hooves on the soft ground and Castle's heavy breathing as he attempted to regain control. Somehow, she couldn't see that working. The horse quite literally had the bit between his teeth and was plunging along after the little class like a wild beast, snorting and gasping for air. It would have been terrifying, but somehow the warmth of Castle's arms had made her forget all emotions except, ludicrously, embarrassment. She was on the back of an insane, huge horse and could be flung off at any moment, and she was more worried about the fact that this man was holding her.

Her emotions today were making less and less sense by the minute.

"Rein in that horse NOW!"

Donna's yell was lost behind them. Beckett was vaguely aware of the class flying past her before they were thundering through the trees alone, their instructor's yells gradually fading away. She was almost getting used to the rhythm of the horse, as insanely fast as it was, feeling the rocking of his shoulders beneath her and attempting to go with it rather than sit stiffly in the saddle. Castle let out a faint gust of laughter. "This wasn't quite how I pictured horse riding would go." His voice was raised to be heard over the crashing of Vader's feet, but he leaned in so he was talking into her ear too, as if that wasn't going to be enough. A slight shiver crept down her neck, and she grit her teeth. She was not letting that happen here.

"We didn't get very far with the case." She agreed, amazed at how absurd the scene was. Going at god knows how many miles an hour, zooming through a forest on a huge horse, talking to Castle as if they were just sitting chatting in the precinct.

"Well, we created quite the impression on our class." Castle pointed out, wrapping his fingers into the horse's mane to gain a little more safety. It made his shoulders crush into hers a little, and she non too subtly leant forward in the saddle, chancing her safety over too much intimacy. He didn't say anything, but she could feel his eyes on the back of her neck, asking her all the questions she wanted to avoid.

She was saved from him voicing any of these when the forest broke up and Vader's hooves were suddenly making light crushing sounds, his pace slowing considerably. They'd hit the beach.

The problem was, Donna had failed to mention that it wasn't an empty beach. It was absolutely mobbed with couples sunbathing...and they were charging right into the throng of it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_Thanks again everyone for the reviews and favorites, they're what inspire me to keep writing away! (Apart from needing my Castle intake in between episodes. :D) Whoop, we now have Castle as the POV for the next three chapters. 3_

_What did everyone think of Linchpin? It didn't turn out as I predicted, but goodness...it just blew my mind. :0 I loved every minute!_

_I hope the editing isn't too shabby in this one; I was so delighted to actually get it done, I wanted to throw it up before I went to bed...so I may not have gone over it as carefully as I should have. ._

* * *

><p>"It could have gone worse."<p>

Castle caught the incredulous look he got in return for his attempt at comforting, and shrugged innocently. "It could! I think we handled it pretty well, actually."

"Yeah. Because three half-trampled women, two broken wrists and a beach of terrified guests is us handling it well." Beckett rested her head in her hand. "How are we meant to do undercover work when that horse just made us the talk of the resort?"

Castle resisted the many fun responses that were piling up in his mind as he remembered the scene earlier that day. Vader had certainly caught the attention of everyone on the beach. It had taken him all of two minutes to realize that he was now charging through a throng of flustered people rather than trees, at which point he had flipped. Backing up, the horse had reared up on his hind legs and let out a crazed bellow, Castle holding on for dear life to his mane and Beckett slipping about in the saddle as she struggled to stay in between the two. A group of couples who had been sunbathing in that spot had stood up in terror, got knocked over by a swing of the horse's hooves and started screaming. Then the real chaos started, the beach became a flurry of wailing holiday makers, and it had passed in a blur of horrified helpers, an apoplectic Donna and a somewhat bashful Vader being tugged back to the stables. Beckett had been so mortified that she'd insisted on returning to the apartment, and spent the rest of the day making notes on what they already knew and seemingly trying to forget it had ever happened.

"Personally, I don't blame him. With that instructor in charge, I'd want a break too." Castle mumbled, then winced under the dangerous look his partner shot him in answer.

"I'm serious Castle. Where do we start?" She rose her eyes up to meet his for a moment, and a shiver ran all the way down his back, freezing him to the spot.

It was completely unfair that his muse always seemed to cripple him the most in moments like these. Of course he loved the fierce side of her, the side that ruthlessly teased him and could pull the trigger of a gun in little so much as a heartbeat. But this, the part of her that she tried to hide behind that damn wall of hers, that was what had made him fall for her. Beneath the layers of the cold Beckett shell was a woman who could give him one lost look out those wide hazel eyes and steal his own heart away from him. Looking at her now, her hair falling in messy waves around her face in a way that made her look much more delicate than usual, eyes seeking his for an answer to her question, he was reminded fiercely why he kept waiting for her, why he'd keep waiting forever if he had to.

"Castle?"

He gathered himself together, snapping out the semi gob-smacked look. "We could start with going out for dinner."

Beckett raised an esquiring eyebrow in response to that, and he hurried to explain. "I mean, it might let us look at the other couples better than the eh...brief glimpse we got today."

"It was a brief glimpse all right." She muttered darkly, then suddenly gave him a smirk, apparently deciding to put her doubtful mood behind her. "Well, I know you've been planning to take me out to dinner for years, so I suppose I can give you one evening."

"I think that's on the brink of fair, since you're my wife."

To his surprise she didn't try contesting this one, just gave her one of the looks that made his insides melt and his legs become no more substantial than jelly, and disappeared into the bedroom.

_Into the bedroom. _Castle tried not to let himself think about how those words sounded in his head.

Instead, his mind drifted to that afternoon. To that moment that had seemed to stretch on forever, as he finally put his arms around her and held her close without risk of death or severe injury. The feel of her on every line of him, the warmth of her back, the delicious smell from her hair as it tickled his face. Her laughter as they surged forward together, the forest flying past, everything a blur as if it was only the two of them in the world.

He would be unable to wipe a smile off his face, had she not quite obviously tugged herself as far away from him as she could manage in the saddle, practically angling herself over the crazy animal's neck just to avoid being pressed to his chest. She wouldn't have been Beckett if she hadn't, but it had still caused his heart to plummet at the mere memory. She had no idea what it did to him, every move she made to push him and everything he offered away.

He should probably get ready.

Slipping into the bedroom for a change of clothes, he glanced around to find it empty and the sounds of his partner padding around the ajoining bathroom. He could picture her without even needing to look in, toothbrush held distractedly between her teeth, playing with her hair to try and make it lie how she wanted to. Castle had never understood why she bothered, because even when she paid it no attention at all it always seemed to fall more perfectly around her shoulders than his self control could handle.

Catching sight of his deodorant, discarded on the table top, a smile crept back onto his face. Perhaps he wasn't completely alone in that area.

* * *

><p>"Any wild theories you'd like to share with me so far?"<p>

Only Kate's voice could have dragged him out the dreamy thoughts he'd slipped into since they'd sat down at the table, and he followed it with reluctance, glancing up to find her eyes soft and filled with humour. It took him a moment to realize she was asking him a question, and shook himself slightly, glancing around their fellow couples with an careful eye.

The restaurant was just as gorgeous as it had been advertised as, set out in the open air under a thin canopy, with an array of plants entwined tastefully around its border. The walls framing it gave way to a spectacular view of the rolling beaches and open sea, all turned a warm pink and yellow hue from the sunset. It hadn't helped distract him from Kate, wearing a clinging and control-challengingly well fitted dress in such a complimentary shade of red that his heart speed up a few beats every time he looked at her. He could tell she was laughing at him, but couldn't care less as long as he could keep admiring her without any distraction.

"Well, first of all, we have our fake romance." He lowered his voice to a deep rumble, leaning across the table so nobody but she would overhear. Jerking his head subtly to his right, he gestured to a couple sitting two tables across, an attractive platinum blonde and a somewhat older man with a thick brow and greying black hair. "He's in money and riches up to his ears, and she loves to idea of him, but not the person behind it." His lips quirked momentarily as he thought how true that statement was of he and his ex-wives. "She sits here prancing and playing up to him, while her cold eyes seek out others that she'll be able to slip into bed with the moment he lets his guard down. The most ruthless killer there is."

He glanced back to his partner looking for barely concealed amusement and a sarcastic retort, but was taken aback to find her face mere inches from his, her eyes dark and dangerous as she hung onto his every word. His face stiffened, and he swallowed deeply, self-control hitting its limits.

"Sounds like a suspect to me." She murmured, a spark dancing in those irises that were hovering so carefully between emeralds and topaz. Castle's fingers clenched around the frame of his seat, teeth grinding together. She was enjoying herself, playing with him. At least she was finally loosening off from the stiff, snappy mood she had been in since being coerced into this case, but this wasn't quite how he had been planning.

Teasing was all very well. He loved when she teased him. But she couldn't blame him if he let his control slip when she tried something like this.

Castle had never imagined he'd be relieved to find Kate Beckett backing out of his personal space, but it was the one emotion he felt as she leaned back across the table, a somewhat triumphant look hovering on her face.

"So what...activities are on the board for tomorrow?" He cleared his throat quickly, knocking himself back on track. She wanted to tease him? She'd get it right back...when she was least expecting it.

Kate lashed a tongue over her lips, making him lose everything he'd just regained and leaving him floundering in the dust. "I found something we'll both like."

"You...you have?" His voice was actually shaking. _Come on Rick. Pull yourself together._

Slowly chewing on a minute portion of her meal, her eyes met his in one of their long, thoughtful looks..almost as if trying to see how much more he could take. He was close to losing himself in them and not bothering to exercise any caution into it when-

"Excuse me?"

His eyebrows almost shot off his forehead. Platinum blonde - or their prime suspect, he reminded himself - was hovering at the edge of their table, sharp blue eyes glancing them over, one hand drifting a little closer than necessary to his shoulder.

"Yes?" Kate snapped out of their private little world first, shooting the woman a somewhat aggressive look before she could check herself.

"I, well.." One of Blonde's carefully manicured eyebrows rose up at her less than welcoming reception, but she held up a candle held carefully in her other hand. "I needed to get a light. Ours went out."

Castle hadn't even noticed how dark it had become. Since Beckett was still looking the woman over as if her alibi had fallen through already, he lifted up their own candle, sending a flame flickering into life on the other's tip. "That's all right, sorry."

He could have sworn the Blonde's eyes literally looked right through him as she turned, looking him up and down completely shamelessly. "Thank you very much." Was that a purr?

"You're...welcome." It was getting very hard to ignore Beckett's eyes, piercing through the side of his face a lot more effectively than this stranger's attempt to win him over.

"Hey, Alexander and I were hoping to get to know the other couples here a little better. Mind if we join you?"

All right, he should have been expecting that one.

Beginning to flail, he gave in and glanced across at his 'wife'. Her eyes had widened in disbelief and her eyebrows were raised, but at the last minute she seemed to remember why they were there. "..Sure. Come on over." She managed, her lack of enthusiasm blatant.

Blonde didn't seem to care. "I'll go and fetch Alex." She beamed, then glanced back at Castle. "My name's Nicki, by the way." She sauntered back across the restaurant, hips swaying.

There was a long silence as the two partners tried to make themselves look each other in the eye.

"...Nicki." Beckett said weakly.

"_Alexander_."

What were the chances?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_**A/N : **Aaah, so many new reviews and favourites! 8D Thank you so much! I'm so sorry for the slow updates, I've had an ongoing sick bug over the last week and I've been curled up watching my way through Series 3 rather than actually writing anything Castle related. Hope everyone enjoyed 'Once Upon A Crime', I'm about to see my first viewing of it now! :P_

* * *

><p>Castle desperately needed a moment to get his bearings.<p>

A very attractive blonde named _Nicki _was throwing herself into flirting with him right under Beckett's nose.

And some rich guy that he hadn't paid much attention to, called _Alexander _was about to be introduced to Kate.

One thing was for sure; this wasn't how he'd expected their dinner to go.

"What's our game plan?" He hissed out the corner of his mouth, growing frantic as he saw Nicki swoop over to her table like a hawk, collect her bag and practically started tugging her husband over to them.

"_Whatever it takes _to find out something about these murders." Beckett decided, her eyes not lifting from the other couple.

That statement sent a chill down Castle's spine, but she was right; they weren't going to find anything out by just sitting here.

At a request from Nicki two waiters pulled up a second table and joined it with theirs, adjusting a few pieces with a flourish then disappearing back into the kitchens. The other couples in the restaurant were starting to shoot them odd looks, and fair enough - it was designed for romantic dinners for two, not socializing.

The first thing Castle noticed was, to his horror, that Alexander was not nearly as old as he had thought. In fact, he was reminded horribly of a certain Tom Demming with the man's cold grey eyes and stylish black hair, looking dashing in a tux and not glancing nearly enough at his wife as he should be.

The second thing was that Nicki had purposefully dragged her seat so it was almost rammed against his, and was currently walking her fingers up the side of his chair.

_How can people do this on a __**honeymoon**__? _Castle met Beckett's eyes with something that could only be described as utter horror.

"So...I never caught your name.." Nicki's voice had lowered to a deep, sultry tone but her eyes looked like a hunting tiger's when it was surveying a rabbit.

Castle gulped. "It's..."

"Peter." Beckett helpfully cut in as all thoughts of their cover story ran from his mind. "And I'm Amy."

Nicki's eyes swept over her, taking in the details she'd missed the first time, sizing her opponent up. Beckett's eyes almost imperceptibly narrowed, the shards of green starting to spread into the brown; she seemed to be applying the same power into her glare that she used in an interrogation room. In response, her victim squared her elbows on the table, pursuing her lips and fixing her with an unblinking stare so intense that it seemed like there ought to be sparks flying in between them.

It was one of the most scary, yet hottest, things Castle had ever seen in his life.

Alexander cleared his throat, dragging both woman from their brewing cat fight. Beckett sat back sharply, as if unable to believe she'd just done that, and Nicki shifted so her shoulder was pressing rather uncomfortably into Castle's, a smirk crossing her plastic-perfect face.

"So...how long are you two staying here?" Breaking into the frosty silence that ensued, Castle prayed he wasn't putting his life on the line.

Everyone obediently snapped into conversation, although the hardness around Beckett's irises didn't fade.

"We're here until the end of this week." Alexander had a deep voice, perfectly pronouncing every word; the perfect English gentleman. "Although, I'm starting to wish we booked a month instead."

"Me too." Nicki trilled, although to Castle's horror he noticed that it was him she watched while saying this, not her new husband.

Silence threatened to take hold on the group once again, and Beckett wasn't helping. He felt a little out of his depth; it was always his partner who took the lead on cases, the unstoppable wolf pack leader that could floor the bad guy if things got out of hand. Then again, he supposed trying to extract information from an attractive woman on her honeymoon was rather more up his street than hers.

"So, what sort of work do you do, Alexander?" Castle steered them back into small talk. _If his tux or his ease at footing the bill for a month here is anything to go by, I'm thinking lawyer or doctor, _he added in his head, critical writer's eyes giving the man a closer look. If he was in a high end job, he looked incredibly good for it - there wasn't the barest hint of extra lines creasing his skin, or bruising under his eyes.

"Alexander is an author." Nicki's voice sounded like her usual sickly sweet admiration, but there was something flippant about the way she passed off his job. It was just reinforced by the way she batted her eyelashes at him a second later. "What do _you _do, Peter?" The woman drew out the syllables in his cover name, making him want to shrink back in his seat.

Castle caught himself just in time before he completely flipped and shouldered her off the chair. She had no idea how deep the hole she was digging herself was. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an amused smirk twitch at Beckett's lips. Well, it was nice that one of them was enjoying themselves.

"I'm a dentist." He replied blankly, fighting the urge to grin as the false smile faltered on her face. Richard Castle, attempting to _get rid_ of an attractive, flirty and obviously smitten woman. Whatever next?

Case. Focus on the case.

"Did you hear about the murders then?" Clearly there wasn't much point shuffling around any longer; he got straight to the point.

Beckett made a muffled gasp, which she quickly halted with her hand, shooting him a furious glare. That probably wasn't what she'd had in mind.

Nicki's eyebrows shot up and she glanced around, leaning into his face with a finger on her lips. "That's meant to be kept hush hush, you know. They're trying not to let the other guests know." She whispered, voice dropping a few octaves and her perfume washing sickeningly into his nose.

"Why? They could all be in danger." Castle subtly shifted back a little in his seat, risking a glance round at the other side of the table. Alexander looked remarkably unperturbed for a man whose newly wed wife was very openly flirting with a complete stranger right under his nose; he was sitting leafing through the menu, hand ruffling his hair. Beckett on the other hand sat stiffly by his side like an angry (but hot) cat, fixing both he and Nicki with a dark glare.

He was going to be in for it when they got back. Then again, he'd gone this far, he might as well continue.

"So when did it happen? A few days ago, right? What were you doing at the time? Where where you? You must have been pretty freaked."

Nicki suddenly didn't look so interested, inching back into her chair, eyes frosting over. "Yeah, it was a bit of a shock."

"So you were near where it happened?"

"No. I didn't find out till the next morning." She tossed her hair, then met her husband's eyes across the table. "Well, it's getting late. It was lovely meeting you, Peter. Perhaps we'll see you tomorrow? And you, uh.."

"Amy." Beckett had to growl the word through her clenched teeth.

"Amy. Well, see ya!" With a slightly hysterical giggle that just made her discomfort more obvious, Nicki wriggled off, Alexander following without a word.

"Wow." Castle scratched the bridge of his nose, turning to his partner. "Well, what did you think of th-"

"What the _hell _was that meant to be, Castle?" Her voice dropped a little at his name, trying to make sure nobody overheard.

Oops.

"You were meant to do anything to get information, so you completely ditched the opportunity to flirt with her and asked her the most obvious questions straight to her face? What's _wrong _with you?" Her eyes, cold embers of emerald, cut into his blue ones with no hint of humour. "You're Richard Castle, you're meant to be an expert at this, for God's sake."

He squared his jaw. "I wasn't the one trying to turn it into a cat fight. I mean, if looks could kill.." His bark of a laugh wasn't nearly as genuine as usual.

"A cat fight?" Beckett looked close to tearing her hair out. "Don't try and lay this on me. You're the one that just ruined our chance at getting anywhere with this case!"

"Look, calm down." His brows knit together. A day on a romantic, relaxing island and she was still just as pent up and prickly as she had been when they'd left? What was up with this woman and her mood swings lately? Although, he had been quick to notice she hadn't straight out denied how riled up Nicki had gotten her. "We know they're hiding something, I mean did you see the way she closed up as soon as I brought up the murders? We are getting somewhere with this. Just give it time. They're still _my _main suspects." Tentatively, he reached over to grab one of her hands on the table. She didn't stop glaring at him, but her hand stayed where it was.

"If you want, I'll even share a horse with ... her, tomorrow." He offered gallantly.

A smile finally twitched at her lips, and she let out a brief sigh, as if expelling all her frustration out in a single breath. "No more horses, Castle, or you'll be sleeping somewhere much worse than on the floor tonight."

"Couldn't be much worse than being preyed on by that creature." He muttered.

Beckett snorted, standing up and using her grip on his hand to lever him off his seat, shoving him in front of her as they left the table. "Only six more days, Castle. You'll live."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_**A/N :: **Thank god, Castle's back next week...this hiatus was pure, utter torture. However, I'm going to do my best to lessen the pain with a lot of fan fic writing. :P _

_Sorry again for the wait for this chapter, I have some big tests/exams coming up and I'm done nowhere near the amount of revision that I should have, so I'm racing to get it done and getting barely any time on my computer. :L I promise though that when they ARE done, they'll be more of a substantial length in future; I didn't realize how short Chapter 5 was until I'd uploaded it..._

_Anyhow, enjoy! This one was brilliant fun, but I'm afraid the light hearted stuff is going to start waning soon...time for the real story to begin. :) **- Murph x**_

* * *

><p>The evening passed rather differently to the previous one. There was no teasing, no jokes; in fact, no real conversation at all. Awkward and brooding, the pair moved around each other in the apartment as they readied for bed, quick glances and frowns being passed between them in short strikes. Suddenly the bathroom was the most uncomfortable room he had ever set foot in, the walls closing in on two people that wanted to gather their thoughts as far away from the other as possible. He had to hold back a quick breath of relief when she finally left, disappearing into the bedroom and leaving the stony silence in her wake. Somehow their playful comments as they left the restaurant had evaporated to leave them almost as uneasy with each other as when he had returned after that summer in the Hamptons..<p>

Castle shook himself. He couldn't get her out of his head - although, it wasn't like that one was new. Every time he caught a glimpse of her face, her hazel eyes darkened in his mind to match how they had been earlier as she leant across the table from him; hair curling in dark waves around her glowing face, lips soft and inviting, eyebrows quirked as she gaged his reaction.

Complete and utter tease.

Forcing himself to stop staring moodily at the mirror's misty surface, the writer exited the bathroom and settled onto his designated spot on the floor, this time wearing pants and a soft grey T-shirt. This probably wasn't the best night to try and test Beckett's patience.

He dared a glance up to see what she was doing, and found her sitting cross-legged on top of the duvet, hair brushed into a messy swathe over one shoulder, surrounded in all directions by glossy photos and sheets of paper. Their vacation murder board. It was a bit of a disaster zone, due to the fact that they knew all there was to know about one victim and next to nothing on the other. Ashely Hall was a stunning woman even in death, with a vibrant mass of red ringlets and skilfully applied makeup that would have made her look almost photo-shopped for a magazine - if it weren't for the sickening bruising around her broken neck. A newly wed of a mere four days, she had come with Tom Hall, a boyish looking man with the same innocent baby blue eyes and charming smile that made Castle's murderer alarms go off in all directions. They had spoken to her family before they'd left, and both her sister and her parents had been adamant that there was not a person in the world that could hate their baby girl. She was clearly the angel child, fresh out of university with a degree in law, engaged to the 'most trustworthy and genuine young man they had ever met'. You could just predict something bad was going to go wrong with someone like that, Castle mused.

Their other victim, on the other hand, was far more interesting - from his author's perspective, anyway. Daniel Webb was exactly the type of person you would overlook in the street without a moments thought. Plain, casual, no close family, of a medium build and with a flop of dull brown hair, he seemed made to just melt into the background. At least...he did just that until he was found strewn across his bed strangled with his own tie. The interesting part though, was the fact that he was the boyfriend of Maggie Cook, the Hotel owner. Castle could almost feel the story building up his mind, digging into the juicy plot line. There was no question that this would somehow sneak itself into his next book, perhaps with some reference to the scene with their very own Nicki and Alexander..

"Castle, are you going to try and come up with some theories for me here, or just stare at our vics?" Beckett gave him a tired look, although it was still laced with its usual venom that appeared when she was frustrated.

"Like you are?" He muttered, earning an even scarier glare as he shifted himself up and rested his arms on the side of the bed, shifting through the notes from Ashley's family and the guesses at Daniel's. Truthfully, he was just as lost as his partner. There were a host of different ideas that he had, but somehow they lost their attraction when they were exhausted, brooding and pouring over notes and not dancing round a murder board deciding where to strike next. Even the cluttered images of Kate swirling around his head were beginning to become less tempting now the actual woman was fixing him with such a death glare.

"We still have Nicki and Alexander. There's something up with the pair of them," the more devoted part of him offered, a weak attempt at pulling her out her dark mood.

"As clearly terrifying as Nicki can be," Beckett rolled her eyes, "I can't picture her chucking someone out a balcony or strangling them with a tie."

"Alexander has more than enough money to organize someone to do it for him."

"And the lack of sense to actually stay at the same hotel at the same time that they're scheduled to get the chop? I don't think so."

"Well...maybe we should just sleep on it." Castle felt a moment of dry humour as he recalled the last time he had said this to her, and the astonishingly flirty glance she had fixed him with afterwards. "We can go over this in the morning, and get to know people...other than that couple." The idea of spending an entire day with Nicki and her oblivious husband was on par with a shopping trip with Meredith.

"You really are desperate to get me on a quad bike." Beckett noted, one eyebrow quirking.

His feigned innocence was sloppy, eyes fluttering a little as he held off sleep. Since when had he got so tired so early? "I don't know what you're talking about, Detective."

He wasn't sure if it was his sleepiness or maybe just his imagination playing tricks on him, but there was a definite softness in his partner's eyes as he struggled to stay awake for her. Something else, too...something he didn't dare thinking about, that hid in the warmer areas of her eyes and only came out when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Night, kiddo."

Her hand pushed at his shoulder, making him flop over and end up in a messy sprawl across the floor, half his face ground into the carpet. The writer attempted to shift over then, drowsiness suddenly sweeping over him, he realized he didn't care. Willingly he let the darkness pull him in, his last lingering thoughts of a pair of glowing hazel eyes staring into his soul.

* * *

><p>"Tell me, <em>please<em>."

"Castle, you sound like a 2 year old."

"That's an improvement on the nine year old. On a sugar rush."

His quick reply was rewarded with a typical eye roll, although the smile dancing on her lips was worth her exasperation.

"Seriously, tell me where you're taking me!"

"You'll see in a minute, kiddo."

That was clearly her new favourite name for him. It was beginning to unsettle him - it reminded him far too much of his mother.

Castle pushed the many thoughts tossing around his mind aside for a moment and let himself enjoy the scenery, or more perhaps the woman sauntering in front of him. The sun had risen hot and furious today, forcing the New Yorkers into the lightest clothes they could find, and it had already baked the island; the soft dirt track was like flames beneath his feet, even in his sandals. Trees and long grasses glinted on all sides, and the sky hung bright and perfectly clear. It was the ideal day to swim in the sea or hit the beach, but of course, Beckett had other things in mind.

On the other hand, his disappointment had been very short lived when he'd seen the pretty, but simple white shirt she'd thrown on and the denim shorts that let him admire her long slim legs to his heart's content. That made anything she had planned worthwhile, he thought decisively, trailing behind her and paying much less attention to their surroundings than he should be.

"Okay, shut your eyes Castle."

A delighted little gasp escaped him. The more playful, child-like side of Kate was a rare treat. "I'll need help avoiding trees."

Escalating his cheeriness even further, she twisted round, mouth turned in one of her most spectacular grins, and grabbed his hand. Her fingers were surprisingly cool, delicate and smooth in his big palms. He tightened his grip before obediently closing his eyes, putting his entire trust in the woman standing next to him.

His partner made something that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. She really was acting odd this week. "You're going to _love _this."

Feeling a hint of anxiety prickle at his senses, Castle let himself be tugged along a turn in the path, imagination going wild. He wasn't going to share them though, on pain of death. "Do I at least get a clue?" He wheedled.

Beckett paused, allowing him a moments hope, then hummed at him. "Nope, no clues."

"I could always open my eyes."

"But we both know you won't."

Reduced to a slightly huffy silence, Castle re-ran over his theories, cutting out the more inappropriate ones with a fond farewell. His partner had no hint of dread in her voice, so it definitely didn't involve horses - he was unsure whether that made him relieved or disappointed. What did that leave? Quad biking? She _had_ made a jab at that the previous evening. However, he couldn't see her filling his wishes quite so willingly, especially with reduced amounts of teasing. Momentarily annoyed at himself, he wished he had paid more attention to the leaflets about the place, that had been passed around the precinct with such gusto that surely every department must have got their hands on one. He had been too excited about the trip to pay much attention to the details though, and rightly so.

The path was twisting upwards beneath his feet, and he felt a stream of sand find its way across the toe of his sandals and crunch uncomfortably between his toes, burning hot and mixed with sharp little rocks. "Beckett, how far away is ... wherever you're taking me?"

"We're almost there, stop being so impatient."

They were definitely climbing a sand dune, he was certain of that. His partner's hand was becoming slick in his, the heat of their palms and the rays being fired down from the sky pushing the temperature over the edge, but there was no chance of him letting her go. Firstly, he was _holding hands with Kate_, but secondly, the dune was becoming so sheer that he would most likely fall straight back down if he relinquished his grip now.

Quite suddenly, the ground leveled out and he was suddenly able to stand properly. All at once the noise became clear to him; there was loud chatter rising up on all sides, and the sound of a group of people padding about over the sand. If she didn't let him see now, he was going to explode.

Fortunately, Beckett decided that was enough teasing. "All right, you can look now Castle."

His eyes snapped open, and he stared at the scene around him, breath caught in awe. About twenty or so people were clustered in a group beside a burly guy who was reeling off some instructions, grinning broadly at his audience and reassuring them in a deep, calming voice - clearly the instructor. Castle liked him more than Donna already.

The sand dune they were stood on had a wide, flat path on the top to make walking about easier, and it dropped away in a sheer arch on either side, one leading back to the woods where they had just come from and the other falling into the beautiful open sands of the beach. They seemed to be quite far up the stretch, because there was only a lone figure out walking their dog, and a huge open stretch before the sea began.

All this however, faded into the background for Castle. Because laid out in a neat row, shining in the sun in all their glory, were three beautiful, battered, sand covered sandrails.

Kate was taking him sand-dunning.

* * *

><p>"Having second thoughts, Castle?"<p>

"Beckett, you drive like a cop." In a contrast to his friend's blinding grin, Castle looked mildly terrified. The car that had looked so very appealing from outside felt very breakable now that he was sitting it in, facing a massive drop of sand and with a woman at the wheel ready to stamp on the accelerator as soon as she was given permission to go.

"Yep, cops tend to drive like cops." She pointed out sarcastically, one eyebrow raised, hair blown a little away from her cheeks by the sea breeze drifting up through the open windscreen.

"Just...I, eh.." The writer's voice was beginning to get a little squeaky at the end of his words. His fingers tightened in a death grip around the edge of the plastic seat, jaw clenched, as if waiting his death penalty rather than a drive down a sand dune.

"All right, you two are good to go. Just remember everything I taught you earlier." Brad, the instructor, gave Kate a special wink. "Give him some fun."

Castle's eyes darkened, suddenly feeling much less friendly towards the man. Why did all the instructors have it in for him?

This thought was thrust from his mind as Kate slammed down the accelerator, twisted the wheel and sent them rolling down the slope with a clunk of the engine and a huge spray of sand. Everything was moving far, far too fast. The dune whizzed by in a blur of golden brown, the sea a dizzying strip of blue that bounced all over his vision as the sandrail bunny hopped over a few craters. His head slammed into part of the dashboard-like ledge in front, making his forehead sting, and his knees bashed into the compartment in all directions. If he wasn't holding on so grimly to the edge of his seat, he would probably be lying dazed in the sand somewhere. He had to wonder at how Kate was still sitting almost comfortably in her seat, hands resting on the wheel, grin practically splitting her face. Had she done this before?

The bouncing motion began to become more and more appealing as the speed picked up, wind whistling past his ears in a whirl, sand biting at his cheeks, stomach being thrown up into his mouth and back as they went completely airborne for a moment. A yell managed to slip past his lips and his hands searched frantically for a better hand hold, everything a haze of colours, the world tipping in a circle. Somehow he ended up reaching across and instead of grabbing the car's frame like he intended, a jolt in the ground sent him tumbling across the middle of the seats and crashing into Kate's shoulder, back jabbing uncomfortably into the controls. Her surprised 'oof' sent a warm breath over his forehead, and he realized he'd landed virtually in her lap. That was the least of his worries though, while it felt like the sandrail was about to sprout wings and take off into the warm sky.

A final jolt in the ground span the wheels, and this time the vehicle truly did leave the ground; they sailed, both making involuntary shrieks, falling over in their precarious position and ending up smashed against the door in a tangle of limbs as they hit the ground in a back breaking thud, wheels beginning to slow as they trailed across flat ground.

Castle let out a gasp of air that he hadn't realized he had been holding, lifted his head to peek over the side of the door. The beach righted itself, a calm stretch of sand, the sea lapping peacefully a few yards away. Far away now, the sand dune rose up in a great curve of gold, paler tyre trails being the only evidence that they had ever made their wild descent.

"Castle. Can't breathe."

Hurriedly the writer came to properly, remembering that he was spreadeagled over his partner, one arm around her back, one hand clenched around the car door, legs entwined, her nose barely inches from his. He could have stayed there forever getting used to the feel of her body against his, but he had barely a moment to register it before she was shoving him off, sitting up and dusting herself down as if they had just been driving a car along a beach, not hurling themselves down a mini cliff edge in a poor excuse for transport.

"Well I must say Beckett, I'll never criticize your activity choices again." He managed, regaining his composure enough to give her a wide grin.

She was ruffled, but not so much that she couldn't give a dazzling one in return. "I'll hold you to that."


End file.
